Peyronie's disease is manifested by an abnormal bend that occurs in the erect penis of the sufferer and can be associated with painful erection and/or painful intercourse.
Peyronie's disease is related to the development of scar tissue, or plaques, that form on tissues (e.g., tunica albuginea) inside the penis. One non-surgical approach for the treatment of Peyronie's disease includes injecting drugs into the plaques that lessen the compression applied by the plaques to the erect penis. The research and efficacy of this approach is limited.
Surgical treatments for Peyronie's disease include excising portions of the tunica albuginea from the penis opposite the plaque and closing the fenestrations with sutures. Access to the tunica albuginea is achieved by first degloving the penile skin away from the penis to expose the Buck's fascia and tunica albuginea along the length of the penis. Degloving the penile skin is painful and the recovery time for the patient can be several weeks. Although the long term results of this surgical approach are good, both short term (within 8 weeks) and long term failures can present with residual penile deformity.
Another surgical treatment includes corporal plication in which plication sutures are placed on the contralateral side of the plaque without excising the tunica albuginea or removing the plaque. Corporal plication is most commonly employed subsequent to a previous Peyronie's treatment surgery to correct small angles of residual penile deformity.
Patients and clinicians desire more effective and less invasive surgical treatments for Peyronie's disease.